Crime Rates Down in Lawton

LAWTON, OK (KSWO)- The Lawton Police Department has reported a decrease in crime for 2016.

Despite a peak in the crime of nearly 4 percent throughout the United States this year, the department is pleased that prominent crime areas such as homicide and robbery have declined 50%.

Sergeant Timothy Jenkins of Lawton Police Department says he attributes the decrease to the department and the community.

"I want to give credit to our police department, the citizens as well. I think people are doing a good job of calling in and reporting stuff when they see it. Officers are also patrolling more areas working harder on the street out there to try and catch bad guys and catch criminals in the act. So, it's a good team effort from community and police department,” said Jenkins.

His hope is to continue this trend into the new year.

"We just want to keep working hard out there and in the city of Lawton to keep it safer for you guys. The citizens of Lawton, we would love for them to obviously help us out. Contact us if the see or notice anything suspicious. Notify anything about a certain crime you may have. We have crime stopper tips they can always call in. Just help us out because we can't be the eyes and ears everywhere,” said Jenkins.

Although they are unable to be at every scene Sergeant Stephanie Crawford says there are other ways to ensure you feel safe and secure in your community.

"The neighborhood watch is effective. It’s a very effective and very low-cost way to help prevent crime in the neighborhood,” said Crawford.

In those watch meetings members discuss tips on how to protect themselves in and out of their home.

Crawford says, "Simple things like keeping your porch lights on at night time so, that your property is lit up. It will be less likely that someone enters their home or vehicle if their lights are on. That's one effective way to do that and to just keep your cars locked."

Jenkins encourages those in the community to take advantage and join the neighborhood watch programs... along with working with law enforcement.

"If you keep your area safe you can contact us as well and let us know what’s going on and we can all work together as a team to keep the whole city safe. If you're not a part of a neighborhood watch or you know one in your community, be a part of that. Get to know those people. That way when something happens you can internetwork with each other,” said Jenkins.

If you would like to join one of the neighborhood watch programs you can find that along with detailed listings of the city's crime statistics by visiting http://www.lawtonpd.com/statistics.html.